Multi-cycle stratified internal combustion system

ABSTRACT

An internal combustion engine that uses stratification of gasses for compressing air is disclosed. The engine uses a combustion chamber that delivers products of combustion into an elongated compression chamber to drive the products of combustion against resident air within the elongated compression chamber, and push the resident air into a compressed air chamber. After driving the resident air into the compressed air chamber, the products of combustion are used with work-producing devices. Air is then driven into the compression chamber by an air pump or low-pressure compressor to once again fill the compression chamber with fresh air. The air in the compressed air chamber is then delivered to the combustion chamber and used for combustion. Fuel is delivered to the combustion chamber by a fuel injector, and ignited by the heat of the compressed air and/or a glow plug, spark plug, or similar ignition device.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of my application having Ser. No.13/841,988, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,175,641, which is incorporated herein inits entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Field of the Invention

This application relates to a system and mechanism for capturing theproducts of combustion to produce useful work. More particularly, butnot by way of limitation, to a system that uses gas or airstratification to pressurize and mobilize gasses in order to distributethem to locations where the mobilized gasses are used to perform usefulwork.

(b) Discussion of Known Art

There are many known examples of internal combustion engines that usewhat is referred to as “charge stratification”. Charge stratification asused in these engines typically refers to the provision of a relativelysmall, segregated, combustion chamber where combustion takes place. Theuse of this segregated combustion chamber allows combustion to beinitiated in a confined space where a rich mixture can be created withless fuel than what is needed in the cylinder of traditional pistonengines, where the combustion mixture is created between the piston andthe valves of the engine, which creates a larger volume than what isused in the segregated chamber of stratified charge engines.

Another approach at using combustion gasses is found in U.S. Pat. No.1,983,405 to Schmidt, which discloses the use of an explosion in anelongated combustion chamber to create propulsion forces, such as theforces used to propel aircraft.

Air stratification is often witnessed in large, vertically open areas,where temperature gradients are observed as strata or layers of air.These stratified layers of air demonstrate that mixing of air often doesnot occur without some mechanical assistance, such as with a fan.

Accordingly, the fact that air, or similar gasses, can be stratified hasnot been fully exploited for the purpose of creating an internalcombustion engine.

SUMMARY

It has been discovered that an internal combustion engine that takesadvantage of stratification of air can be made, an example of the engineincludes:

an elongated compression chamber having a first end and a second endwith an intake valve next to the first end and an exhaust valve that islocated next to the second end;

a combustion chamber that is in fluid communication with the first endof the compression chamber, having a fuel inlet, a compressed air inletand a fuel igniter; and

a compressed air chamber that is connected to the second end of thecompression chamber through a check valve (one-way valve).

With this embodiment, high pressure-high temperature exhaust gasses arefirst created in the combustion chamber and are then released into thecompression chamber, which will be filled with a resident gas. Theresident gas may be air or a mixture of air and vestiges of exhaustgasses from a previous cycle of combustion with the system. The suddenrelease of the exhaust gasses from the combustion chamber into thecompression chamber will result in an expansion of the hot exhaustgasses against the resident gas that is contained within the compressionchamber. It is contemplated that the inflow of exhaust gasses from thecombustion chamber will compress the lower-pressure, lower-temperature,resident gas in the compression chamber. This compression is likely tobe produced through the stratification, or non-mixing, of the exhaustgas from the combustion chamber as it advances against the resident gas.The stratification, or non-mixing, is improved by minimizing the area ofcontact between the exhaust gas and resident gas and by reducingturbulence and increasing laminar flow of the gasses in the compressionchamber though use of a smooth and aerodynamic design of the outletvalve, outlet valve seat and compression chamber. This stratificationwill result in the compression and movement of the resident gas towardsthe check valve that connects the compression chamber and the compressedair chamber. To achieve preferred operation, the ratios of the volumesof the combustion chamber, compression chamber and compressed airchamber are such that all of the compressed air and only a minimalamount of exhaust gasses enter the compressed air chamber.

Adjustments of the volume ratios will be required by someoneknowledgeable in the field of internal combustion in order to achievemaximum power and/or efficiency and/or reduced exhaust pollutants. It isalso envisioned that an ability to alter the volume ratios might have tobe incorporated into the design to achieve maximum power and/orefficiency and/or reduced exhaust pollutants under different poweroutputs.

It will be understood that the stratification is favored due to theelongated shape of the combustion chamber. The term “elongated” as usedherein refers to something that has a length of a magnitude that issignificantly greater than the magnitude of any cross-sectionaldimension. In the disclosed invention, it is preferred that the distancebetween the first end and the second end of the compression chamber willbe several times the distance across any section of the compressionchamber.

THEORY OF THE INVENTION

If one places an explosive charge such as a lit firecracker in one endif a long piece of pipe, then closes the pipe with pipe caps, theexplosion will compress the air in the pipe to the opposite end of thepipe. Because of the high ratio of the length of the pipe to itsdiameter, there will be only a small amount of mixing of the explosiongasses and the air being compressed. The final conditions in the pipewill be burned high-temperature, high-pressure gasses from thefirecracker's explosion filling most of the pipe and a small pocket ofhigh-pressure air at the end of the pipe.

This invention replaces the firecracker with an explosion of acombustible mixture of compressed air and fuel. It then captures theresulting compressed air at the opposite end of the pipe and uses it forthe next explosion. It then uses the residual burned gasses, whosetemperature and pressure have been reduced by the work required tocompress the air, to drive a work producing expansion-engine such as aturbine or a piston-cylinder arrangement.

It should also be understood that while the above and other advantagesand results of the present invention will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art from the following detailed description andaccompanying drawings, showing the contemplated novel construction,combinations and elements as herein described, and more particularlydefined by the appended claims, it should be clearly understood thatchanges in the precise embodiments of the herein disclosed invention aremeant to be included within the scope of the claims, except insofar asthey may be precluded by the prior art.

DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate preferred embodiments of thepresent invention according to the best mode presently devised formaking and using the instant invention, and in which:

FIG. 1A is a schematic of an example of the disclosed invention.

FIG. 1B is a schematic illustrating the use of the device shown in FIG.1A in using the stratification between the products of combustion andthe resident gas to both expand the products of combustion and compressair in the compressed air chamber. The compressed air (which had beenthe resident gas in the compression chamber) is stored in the compressedair chamber for later delivery into the combustion chamber.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart describing the cycles of the disclosed invention.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of a preferred example of the invention,which includes a valve system that is envisioned to beelectro-mechanically controlled to manage the flow of gases through thevarious ports, and illustrates the stage during which air from the lowpressure air compressor is being delivered into the compression chamber,thereby purging remaining exhaust gasses from a previous cycle throughthe exhaust valve and through the work producing expansion-engine andthen through the engine's exhaust system to the atmosphere. It is notedthat if the work producing expansion-engine is a piston-cylinderarrangement, it is envisioned that during the exhaust stroke of thepiston, the intake and the exhaust valves of the invention's compressionchamber and the exhaust valve of the work producing expansion-enginewill all be open to allow the purge of the compression chamber'sproducts of combustion through the work producing expansion-engine andout to the atmosphere.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the example in FIG. 3 illustratingfuel being introduced into the combustion chamber and mixing with thecompressed air already present in the combustion chamber.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of the example in FIG. 4 illustratingthe ignition of the fuel-air mixture either from the heat of thecompressed air and/or the glow plug in a high compression-ratio design,or a spark in a low compression-ratio design. The term compression-ratiorefers to the ratio of the volume of the compression chamber to thevolume of the combustion chamber.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of the example in FIG. 5 as the productsof combustion generated in the combustion chamber are released into thecompression chamber. It also illustrates the compression of the residentgasses by the stratified expanding products of combustion and theresulting forcing of the resident gasses through the check valve.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of the example in FIG. 6 after theproducts of combustion generated in the combustion chamber have beenreleased into the compression chamber and the resident gasses have beendriven out of the compression chamber and into the compressed airchamber. The check valve is closed due to an equalizing of pressurebetween the compression chamber and the compressed air chamber.

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of the example in FIG. 7 as the productsof combustion in the compression chamber are being released through theexhaust valve or port into a device that uses the products of combustionto do work (pressure multiplied by change in volume). The products ofcombustion will be released through the engine's exhaust system to theatmosphere after the have been used for producing work.

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of the example shown in FIG. 8, wherethe low-pressure air compressor is being used to fill the compressionchamber, thereby purging the compression chamber of most of the exhaustgasses. This results in additional resident gas that is primarily air.This state of the cycle leaves the system ready to advance to the stageillustrated in FIG. 3, and once again repeat the described cycle ofevents.

FIG. 10 is a side sectional view of an arrangement with opposingcombustion chambers, and uses the principles disclosed herein to createan arrangement that is particularly useful for operating with fuels suchas diesel fuel, which typically exhibit much lower vapor pressure thanfuels such as gasoline, and thus benefits from higher enginetemperatures and pressures for initiating combustion. This arrangementis envisioned to be a high compression-ratio design. FIG. 10 illustratesthe introduction of compressed air into one of the combustion chambers.It further illustrates air or an oxygen rich gas being blown through acompression chamber to replace any gasses previously occupying thecompression chamber.

FIG. 11 illustrates the arrangement of FIG. 10 showing fuel beinginjected into the compressed air in one of the opposed combustionchambers.

FIG. 12 illustrates the arrangement of FIG. 11 after a mixture of fueland air is ignited in one of the opposed combustion chambers.

FIG. 13 illustrates the arrangement of FIG. 12 and shows the advancementof the products of combustion released from the combustion chamber onthe left towards the combustion chamber on the right, and illustratesthe compression of gasses that resided within the compression chamber bythe advancing expanding gasses just released from the combustion chamberon the left.

FIG. 14 illustrates the progress of the operation from the stageillustrated in FIG. 13, and shows the compression chamber filled withthe products of combustion and the opposing combustion chamber filledwith the highly compressed resident gas that had previously occupied thecompression chamber.

FIG. 15 illustrates the progress of the operation from the stageillustrated in FIG. 14, with the release of the expanding products ofcombustion from the compression chamber through the exhaust valve,allowing the gas to continue to expand and flow through a work producingexpansion-engine or other device that will allow the expansion to beused to perform useful work. This arrangement illustrated in FIG. 15allows the opposing combustion chamber ready to continue the progress ofthe operation illustrated in FIG. 11, but with the functions of thecombustion chambers now reversed.

FIG. 16 illustrates a side-sectional view of another embodimentemploying the principles disclosed herein, and illustrates the use of anannularly-shaped compression chamber mounted between a turbine andcompressor, the compressor and turbine being mounted on a single shaftthat extends through the center of the annularly-shaped compressionchamber.

FIG. 17 is a cut-away view of the annularly-shaped compression chamberand poppet valves, together with the other components of the disclosedinvention.

FIG. 18 is an exploded view of the main components of annularly-shapedcompression chamber and the poppet valve arrangement used to exhaust theproducts of combustion towards the turbine and then bring air into theannularly-shaped compression chamber from the air compressor.

FIG. 19 illustrates a side-sectional view of another embodiment of theuse of an annularly-shaped compression chamber mounted between a turbineand compressor, the embodiment using a slide valve arrangement insteadof the poppet valve arrangement shown on FIG. 16.

FIG. 20 is a cut-away view of the annularly-shaped compression chamberand slide valves of FIG. 19, together with the other components of thedisclosed invention.

FIG. 21 is an exploded view of the main components of annularly-shapedcompression chamber and the slide valve arrangement used to exhaust theproducts of combustion towards the turbine and then bring air into theannularly-shaped compression chamber from the air compressor.

It should be noted that cooling of the chamber walls, ports, and valvesis not shown on the drawings for simplicity. Lubrication and sealing ofsliding surfaces of the valves is also not shown for simplicity.

It is envisioned that a thermal barrier such as ceramic will coatsurfaces that are exposed to the hot gasses in the combustion chamber(s)and the compression chamber of all embodiments of this invention. It iscontemplated that this thermal barrier will be beneficial to theoperating efficiency of all embodiments of this invention. Thecompressed air chamber may or may not have this thermal barrier.Experimentation by someone knowledgeable in the field of internalcombustion will be required to determine the effects of cooling the airin the compressed air chamber on power, efficiency and the formation ofunwanted exhaust pollutants such as oxides of nitrogen.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EXEMPLAR EMBODIMENTS

While the invention will be described and disclosed here in connectionwith certain preferred embodiments, the description is not intended tolimit the invention to the specific embodiments shown and describedhere, but rather the invention is intended to cover all alternativeembodiments and modifications that fall within the spirit and scope ofthe invention as defined by the claims included herein as well as anyequivalents of the disclosed and claimed invention.

Turning now to FIGS. 1A, 1B where a schematic of a basic embodiment isshown, and to FIG. 2, where a flow diagram of steps carried out with thebasic embodiment is illustrated. Referring to these figures, it will beunderstood that the disclosed internal combustion engine 10 is used fordelivering a high pressure-high temperature exhaust gas 12 that is usedto compress a resident gas 14. The resident gas 14 may be a mixture ofair that is drawn into the internal combustion engine 10 from theatmosphere or a mixture of air and vestiges of the products ofcombustion obtained from the process carried out with the disclosedinvention.

Referring now to FIGS. 1A and 3 it will be understood that disclosedinternal combustion engine 10 includes an elongated compression chamber37 that includes a first end 16 and a second end 18. The first end 16 isconnected to a combustion chamber 36 though an outlet valve 31 thatprovides fluid communication the combustion chamber 36 and thecompression chamber 37. Additionally, the second end 18 of thecompression chamber 37 is connected to compressed air chamber 44 througha check valve 42. Compressed air chamber 44 has an inlet 20 and anoutlet 22. The inlet 20 of compressed air chamber 44 is connected to thecompression chamber 37 by way of a check valve 42, which only allowsflow into the compressed air chamber. The outlet 22 of compressed airchamber 44 is in fluid communication with the combustion chamber 36through an inlet valve 45 that is located between the combustion chamber36 and compressed air chamber 44. FIG. 3 shows that a preferred exampleof the combustion chamber 36 includes a fuel injector 34 that is usedfor delivering a combustible fuel 24, identified in FIG. 1A, such as anysuitable kerosene, gasoline, alcohol, or other hydrocarbon blend thatcan be burned. In the combustion chamber 36, the fuel 24 delivered bythe fuel injector 34 is mixed with air from the compressed air chamberor another gas mixture that includes a suitable amount of oxygen forcombustion.

It should be understood that the amount of fuel delivered by the fuelinjector 34 can be regulated through the use of an oxygen sensorpositioned inside the combustion chamber 36, the compression chamber 37or in the exhaust pipe downstream of the work producing expansion-engine41, depending on which location is the most workable. This provides theneeded information for an electronic control unit (ECU), not drawn forsimplicity, to calculate the proper amount of fuel to be delivered toachieve a stoichiometrically balanced, lean, or desired combustiblemixture 26 that includes fuel and oxygen. The accompanying figures alsoshow that the combustion chamber 36 will also include at least one glowplug 35 for assisting the igniting of the combustible mixture 26, shownon FIG. 4, which is formed in the combustion chamber 36 when firststarting a cold engine in a high compression-ratio design or at leastone spark plug in a low compression-ratio design. It is contemplatedthat speed control of the disclosed invention will be achieved throughthe adjustment of the flow through the fuel injector 34 and the outletvalve 31.

The term compression-ratio refers to the ratio of the volume of thecompression chamber to the volume of the combustion chamber. A highcompression-ratio design would have a higher efficiency, would require ahigher pressure output of the high pressure air compressor 39 forstarting, could use a lower octane rating fuel and would require ahigher fuel pressure for the fuel injector 34. A low compression ratiodesign would have a lower efficiency, would require a lower pressureoutput from the High Pressure Air Compressor 39 for starting, wouldrequire a higher octane fuel rating to avoid pre-ignition or detonation,might require additional cooling of the air in the compressed airchamber 44 as well as the combustion chamber 36 walls and outlet valve31 to avoid pre-ignition or detonation and would require a lower fuelpressure for the fuel injector 34. It is further contemplated thatvarious designs of the combustion chamber 36 and various locations offuel injector 34, inlet valve 45 and outlet valve 31 will allow fuel tobe added to the combustion chamber 36 prior to or during the addition ofthe compressed air to the combustion chamber 36 without pre-ignition ordetonation of the combustible mixture occurring. It is still furthercontemplated that in a low compression design and-or with sufficientcooling of the gas in compressed air chamber 44, fuel could be added tocompressed air chamber 44 without pre-ignition or detonation occurring.

It is also contemplated that the outlet valve 31 can be located withinthe compression chamber 37 instead of within combustion chamber 36, asshown, without altering the functioning of this valve.

FIG. 3 shows the filling of combustion chamber 36 with compressed oxygenrich resident gas, from the compressed air chamber, which had beeninitially filled with compressed air from high pressure air compressor39.

As a non-illustrated cycle-starting alternative, a high pressure aircompressor 39 with an output pressure lower than the optimum systemoperating pressure may be used for initially starting the cycle ofevents to follow by holding the outlet valve 31 in the open position andholding the intake valve 32 in a closed position and also holding theexhaust valve 33 in a closed position. This will allow the high pressureair compressor 39 to fill compression chamber 37, combustion chamber 36as well as the compressed air chamber 44 with compressed air. In thisway, when fuel is introduced and ignited in combustion chamber 36, theresulting explosion will further compress in the stratified manner shownin FIG. 6 the already compressed resident gas in the compression chamber37. Once the events described in this cycle starting alternative havebeen completed, the combustion-compression/expansion-exhaust-purge cyclewill proceed to FIG. 7 then FIG. 8 then FIG. 9 and then back to FIG. 3to continue the next cycle.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a stage in the operation where the exhaustvalve 33 that is used to release gasses from the compression chamber 37in order to fill the compression chamber 37 with an amount ofoxygen-rich air that is to be compressed into the compressed air chamber44. Accordingly, in FIGS. 3 and 4, the compression chamber 37 is shownat or slightly above atmospheric pressure.

Importantly, FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate that the filling of the combustionchamber 36 is preferably achieved by first opening the inlet valve 45,which will allow compressed air, or a gas with oxygen to be used forcombustion, into the combustion chamber 36. Then, as shown in FIG. 4,inlet valve 45 is closed and the fuel injector 34 is used to deliver aquantity of combustible fuel 24, identified in FIG. 1A, into thecombustion chamber 36 in order to produce a combustible mixture 26.Accordingly, prior to ignition, gasses found inside the compressionchamber 37 will be at or slightly above atmospheric pressure, or atpressure that is lower than the pressure of the gasses found in thecombustion chamber 36 or in the compressed air chamber 44.

Turning now to FIG. 5 it will be understood that the heat of thecompressed air and/or glow plug 35, or other ignition devices, hasignited the desired combustible mixture 26 within the combustion chamber36. It is contemplated the combustion process will take a very shortamount of time and create products of combustion 28, identified in FIG.1B. The products of combustion 28 will consist of oxidized fuel and anyother components of the combustible mixture, such as unreacted oxygenand other residual components. Although the combustion process will takea very short time, the disclosed system will allow close monitoring ofthe contained reaction taking place in the combustion chamber 36, whichis closed while combustion is taking place, and-or monitoring theresults of the reaction in the compression chamber 37 or the exhaustsystem of work producing expansion-engine 41. The pressure in thecompressed air chamber 44 will also be monitored and that informationwill be fed back to the ECU to vary the amount of fuel injected as wellas the other variables mentioned above to prevent the operating pressurein the compressed air chamber 44 from falling too low. This closemonitoring will allow the ECU to activate the outlet valve 31 at anoptimal moment and release the products of combustion 28 after allowingenough time for the desired combustion. Once the desired amount ofcombustion has occurred, then the products of combustion 28 are releasedinto the compression chamber 37 by the opening of the outlet valve 31,as illustrated in FIG. 6. Also illustrated in FIG. 5, intake valve 32and exhaust valve 33 are closed prior to the opening of outlet valve 31.

As shown in FIG. 6, the release of the products of combustion 28,identified in FIG. 1B, into the compression chamber 37 through theoutlet valve 31 is now opened. As the products of combustion 28 expandinto the compression chamber 37, they begin to compress any residentgasses 14, identified in FIG. 1B, found in the compression chamber 37.This compression of the resident gasses is produced by the suddenadvancement of the products of combustion 28 against the resident gasses14 in the compression chamber 37, which will result in a stratifiedadvancement of the products of combustion 28 against the resident gasses14. The products of combustion 28 will be at a significantly highertemperature and density than the resident gasses 14 found in thecompression chamber 37, and the encounter of the two gas bodies will notprovide sufficient boundary area or time for significant mixing, andthus will result in the compression of the resident gasses 14 againstthe second end 18, identified in FIG. 1A, of the compression chamber 37.In other words, the there will be a stratification of the gasses, whichwill include a layer of products of combustion 28 that presses against alayer of the resident gasses 14.

FIG. 6 also illustrates the relationship of the opening of the outletvalve 31 and the check valve 42 that is placed between the compressionchamber 37 and check valve air chamber 43 that is used with thedisclosed invention. As illustrated in FIGS. 3-9, check valve airchamber 43 (shown with connecting tube 46 which connects to compressedair chamber 44) is positioned downstream from the combustion chamber 36,so that all of the gasses being compressed by the discharge of theproducts of combustion 28, identified in FIG. 1B, into the compressionchamber 37 are captured in the check valve air chamber 43 as thecompressed resident gasses 14, identified in FIG. 1B, are pushed pastthe check valve 42 by the advancing products of combustion 28. It isimportant to note that it is contemplated that the exhaust valve 33 willopen shortly after the outlet valve 31 releases the products ofcombustion 28 from the combustion chamber 36. The ratios of the volumesof the combustion chamber 36, the compression chamber 37 and thecompressed air chamber 44, in conjunction with the resistance to openingof the check valve 42, will control how much and the pressure of theresident gas 14, identified in FIG. 1B, that is captured through thecheck valve air chamber 43 and in the compressed air chamber 44. It isenvisioned that experimentation by someone knowledgeable in the field ofinternal combustion will be required to determine the optimum volumeratios as well as the check valve closing pressure to achieve maximumpower and/or efficiency and/or reduced exhaust pollutants.

The advantage of capturing gasses in the compressed air chamber 44 isthat the gas captured in this chamber will be ready for delivering tothe combustion chamber 36 almost immediately after the products ofcombustion 28 have been delivered into the compression chamber 37. Itshould be noted that the larger the volume of the compressed air chamber44, the smaller will be the decrease in pressure below the optimumoperating pressure within the compressed air chamber 44 when the inletvalve 45 opens to fill combustion chamber 36 with compressed air. Areview of FIGS. 3 and 4 will reveal that the resident gas 30 found inthe compression chamber 37 consisted of gas, such as air, that wasintroduced into the compression chamber 37 by a low-pressure aircompressor 38 prior to mixing fuel and an oxygen-containing gas in thecombustion chamber 36. Thus, the resident gas 30, which is eventuallycompressed into the compressed air chamber 44 through the release of theproducts of combustion 28, as illustrated in FIG. 6, is introduced intothe system by the low-pressure air compressor 38 before the combustionprocess takes place in the combustion chamber 36.

Turning now to FIGS. 7 and 8, it will be understood that the check valve42 will close once the pressure in the check valve air chamber 43 andcompressed air chamber 44 increases, due to the equalization orapproximation of the pressure in the check valve air chamber 43 and thecompression chamber 37, such that the pressure in the check valve airchamber 43 equals or exceeds the pressure in compression chamber 37. Atthis time the compressed air chamber 44 has been filled with theresident gas 30 that was displaced from the compression chamber 37 bythe products of combustion 28. Now, as shown in FIG. 8, the exhaustvalve 33 is opened, and the products of combustion 28 are released tothe work producing expansion-engine 41, which continues to expand theproducts of combustion 28 to do useful work. Work producingexpansion-engine 41 then exhausts those products of combustion throughits exhaust system to the atmosphere, having extracted useful energyfrom them.

Referring now to FIG. 9, it will be understood that the exhaust valve 33is still open after the products of combustion 28 have been released tothe work producing expansion-engine 41 and the pressure inside thecompression chamber 37 sufficiently reduced. At this point, the intakevalve 32 is opened and the low-pressure air compressor 38 is used tofill the compression chamber 37 with air as the resident gas 30. FIG. 9also illustrates that by leaving both the intake valve 32 and theexhaust valve 33 open for a short time, the low-pressure air compressor38 is allowed to deliver oxygen rich air to the compression chamber 37and at the same time purge most of the remaining products of combustionfrom the compression chamber 37, and thus allow the system to return tothe initial position illustrated in FIG. 3 to repeat thecombustion-expansion/compression-exhaust-purge cycle.

FIGS. 6-9 illustrate that the outlet valve 31 of the combustion chamber36 remains open from the time the products of combustion are releaseduntil the purging of gasses from the compression chamber 37 is completedthrough the purging accomplished by the delivery of air, or anothersuitable oxygen-rich gas, by the low pressure air compressor. Theduration of this purging can be established though the use of oxygensensors, alone or in conjunction with temperature sensors, positioned inthe compression chamber or the exhaust system of engine 41. The durationof this purging will also be determined by the frequency of the cycles,which will be controlled by the ECU which can control the speed of amotor driven cam, electrical solenoids or other electromechanicaldevices which will control the timing of the various valves. In thisway, the speed and power output of the engine can be regulated. It isfurther contemplated for all embodiments of this invention, the use ofvalves which are opened by an increase in gas pressure operating againstthe closing force of a spring, and further opened by the inertia of themoving valve and then closed by the said spring may be used instead ofelectromechanical operation of the valves.

Once the compression chamber 37 has been satisfactorily purged of theproducts of combustion, and filled with air, then the intake valve 32,the exhaust valve 33, and the outlet valve 31 are closed. The closing ofthese valves may be achieved substantially simultaneously or in asuitable sequence, such as by first closing the exhaust valve 33, thenthe intake valve 32, and then the outlet valve 32. Once these valves areclosed, the system is then capable of repeating the stages forcombustion carried out with the disclosed invention, commencing withfilling the combustion chamber 36 with compressed air from thecompressed air chamber 44 through the opening of inlet valve 45 and thenprogressing through to the last stage, which delivers the products ofcombustion to a suitable device that allows further expansion and workwith the expanding gasses.

Attention is now directed to FIG. 10 where a side sectional view of anarrangement with opposing combustion chambers 36A and 36B isillustrated. The opposing combustion chambers 36A and 36B are positionedon opposite ends of the compression chamber 37. As will be explained infurther detail below, this arrangement allows the resident gas 30 to becompressed into one of the opposing combustion chambers 36A or 36B as aresult of the release of the products of combustion from the otheropposing combustion chambers 36A or 36B into the compression chamber 37.Still further, it will be understood that the opposing combustionchamber design will allow the engine or system disclosed here togenerate and thus operate at higher temperatures and pressures,conditions that are particularly useful for operating with fuels such asdiesel fuel, which typically exhibit much lower vapor pressure thanfuels such as gasoline, and thus benefit from higher engine temperaturesand pressures for initiating combustion.

Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 10, high pressure air compressor 39forces compressed air past check valve 40 to fill combustion chamber 36Awith compressed air. High pressure air compressor 39 may now shut down,having done its job for starting the cycle of events to follow. Intakevalves 32A and 32B and exhaust valve 33 are open to introduce oxygenrich gas from low pressure air compressor 38A and 38B, throughcompression chamber 37 and through engine 41 and through the exhaustsystem of engine 41 to the atmosphere.

As a cycle starting alternative, a high pressure air compressor 39 witha lower output pressure may be used for starting the cycle of events tofollow by holding output valve 31A in the open position and intakevalves 32A and 32B and exhaust valve 33 are held in the closed position.This will allow high pressure air compressor 39 to fill compressionchamber 37 and combustion chamber 36B as well as combustion chamber 36Awith compressed air. In this way, when fuel is introduced and ignited incombustion chamber 36A, the resulting explosion will further compressthe already partially-compressed resident gas in compression chamber 37and combustion chamber 36B. Once the events described in thiscycle-starting alternative have been completed, thecombustion-compression/expansion-exhaust-purge cycle will proceed toFIG. 14.

Illustrated in FIG. 11, a combustible mixture 26 is generated in thecombustion chamber 36A by delivering an amount of fuel with fuelinjector 34A into an amount of compressed air or oxygenated gas in thecombustion chamber 36A.

As shown in FIG. 12, the combustible mixture 26 is ignited through theuse of a glow plug 35A, in order to create the products of combustion28. Also as illustrated in FIG. 12, intake valves 32A and 32B andexhaust valve 33 are now closed. Compression chamber 37 is occupied withan oxygen rich resident gas.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, the products of combustion are then releasedinto the compression chamber 37 by the opening of the outlet valve 31A,which in the illustrated preferred embodiment is a solenoid actuatedvalve or a linearly-actuated valve with a low pressure closing spring sothat the valve may operate as a (one way) check valve when closed. It isalso important to note that the outlet valves 31A and 31B used in theopposing combustion chamber arrangement will incorporate the solenoid,linear retraction, mechanism and will also be used to perform thecheck-valve function that is provided by the check valve 42 of theembodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1A-9. Accordingly, in the opposingcombustion chamber example, the check valve function may be performed bya separate check valve (one-way valve) or by a solenoid that isspring-loaded to the closed position, and which can then be opened by anelectric signal to release the products of combustion from thecombustion chamber.

FIG. 13 also illustrates the advancement of the products of combustion28 against the resident gas 14 when the products of combustion 28 arereleased from combustion chamber 36A towards the opposing combustionchamber 36B. The rapid advancement of the products of combustion 28towards the resident gas 14 will result in the compression of theresident gasses 14 against the outlet valve 31B and the displacement ofthese gasses towards the opposing combustion chamber 36B. The checkvalve function of outlet valve 31B of the opposing combustion chamber36B will open under the pressure and allow the resident gas that isbeing displaced by the products of combustion 28 to enter the opposingcombustion chamber 36B. As discussed above, it is contemplated thatoutlet valve alone may perform both functions of acting as a check valveto accept the resident gas and an outlet valve for the products ofcombustion being released from one of the combustions chambers.

Turning now to FIG. 14 it will be understood that the outlet valve 31Bwill close once the pressure within the combustion chamber 36B reachesthe pressure of the compression chamber 37, which has filled with theproducts of combustion 28 released from the combustion chamber 36A.Thus, the pressure in both of the combustion chambers 36A and 36B, andcompression chamber 37 will be substantially equal at the stageillustrated in FIG. 14. Combustion chamber 36B is occupied with highpressure, high temperature oxygen rich gas.

FIG. 15 illustrates the progress of the operation from the stageillustrated in FIG. 14, with the release of the expanding products ofcombustion from the compression chamber through the exhaust valve 33.This allows the gas to continue to expand and flow through a workproducing expansion-engine 41 that is connected to the disclosedinvention in order to perform useful work. Note that at the stageillustrated in FIG. 15, it is preferred that the outlet valve 31A of thecombustion chamber 36A, which was just allowed to release products ofcombustion into the compression chamber 37, is allowed to remain open.This allows evacuation of the products of combustion 28 from thecompression chamber 37 and from the combustion chamber 36A. Theevacuation of the products of combustion 28 from the compression chamber37 is accomplished by introducing air or another oxygen-rich gas throughthe intake valves 32A and 32B.

It is contemplated that in the preferred embodiment of the invention, asingle low-pressure air compressor will be used instead of two or morelow-pressure air compressors by connecting an intake manifold from asingle low pressure air compressor to both intake valves 32A and 32B,which are positioned relative to exhaust valve 33 in order toexpeditiously purge the compression chamber 37 of products of combustionand fill the compression chamber 37 with oxygen rich gas. It is furthercontemplated that additional intake valves may be positioned withincombustion chambers 36A and 36B to assist in purging those chambers aswell to obtain a possible higher power output of the invention. Theadditional intake valve in the combustion chamber 36A or 36B would openat the same time intake valves 32A and 32B are open and, importantly,when the outlet valve associated with that combustion chamber is open.

Once the products of combustion from both the compression chamber 37 andthe combustion chamber 36A have been or are being evacuated, fuel can beinjected into the compressed air, or resident gas, found in combustionchamber 36B, and thus the steps illustrated in FIGS. 11-15 can berepeated, this time with the combustion and generation of products ofcombustion 28 being generated in the combustion chamber 36B. Theproducts of combustion generated in combustion chamber 36B are thenreleased and used to compress the resident gas or air found in thecompression chamber 37 into combustion chamber 36A, as the processproceeds in the reverse direction ending at FIG. 11 where a new cyclebegins. It is now explained that FIG. 10 is shown for the initialstarting of the process or system.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 16, 17 and 18, thecombustion-expansion/compression-exhaust-purge cycle described in FIGS.1 through 9 is duplicated. It should be noted that the embodiment shownin FIGS. 10 through 15 can also be incorporated into the embodimentshown in FIGS. 16, 17 and 18 as well as the embodiment shown in FIGS.19, 20 and 21, by placing combustion chambers 36A and 36B, as shown inFIGS. 10-15, at opposite ends of the annular shaped compression chamber37. The shapes and locations of the components are changed to create adifferent embodiment of the same invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 16 and 17, it will be understood that while it iscontemplated that the compression chamber 37 shown in the earlierembodiments of this invention will be made as an elongated cylindricalmember, it is also contemplated that the compression chamber 37 may beformed in a generally circular or annular manner as shown in FIG. 17.The annular configuration of FIG. 17 allows the use of a low-pressureair compressor 38 that is mounted on a shaft 52 that also supports andis attached to the turbine 41 that is used to perform work with theexpanding products of combustion released through the exhaust valveapertures or ports located in exhaust gas plate 33A. Thus, by referringto FIG. 16, it will be understood that an annularly shaped compressionchamber 37 has been shown mounted between a turbine 41 and a lowpressure air compressor 38. FIG. 16 also shows that the low pressure aircompressor 38 and turbine 41 are mounted on a single shaft 52 thatextends through a central support bearing 53 or aperture that isincorporated into an intake gas plate 32A and a bearing support plate70. Intake gas plate 32A and exhaust gas plate 33A form the sides of theannular shaped compression chamber 37 and have tapered holes 32E and 33Ewhich function as intake and exhaust valve apertures and valve seats asshown in FIG. 18. The intake valve plate 32B and the exhaust valve plate33B located within the annular shaped compression chamber 37 arepart-circular in shape and extend in an arc from a point near aconnection to outlet valve 31 to a point near a connection to checkvalve 42. Intake valve plate 32B and exhaust valve plate 33B have aninside radius greater than and an outside radius less than thecorresponding radii of intake gas plate 32A and exhaust gas plate 32B.The function of the resulting gaps is to allow gasses to flow throughthese gaps when the intake valve plate 32B and exhaust valve plate 33Bare moved linearly away from the intake gas plate 32A and exhaust gasplate 33A, respectively. Intake valve plate 32B and exhaust valve plate33B have attached tapered poppet valves 32C and 33C, respectively, whichare shown as button-like tapered cylinders. These poppet valves 32C and33C mate with the tapered holes 32E and 33E in intake gas plate 32A andexhaust gas plate 33A, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 16 and 18, theintake valve plate 32B is positioned nearest the low pressure aircompressor 38 with its attached poppet valves 32C mating with thetapered holes 32E in intake gas plate 32A. Exhaust valve plate 33B ispositioned nearest turbine 41 with its attached poppet valves 33C matingwith the tapered holes 33E in exhaust gas plate 33A. As shown in thisembodiment, intake gas plate 32A and exhaust gas plate 33A are attachedto the center housing 47, shown in FIGS. 16 and 18. As shown, centerhousing 47 contains the inside radius wall and outside radius wallforming compression chamber 37. It also contains a shape at one end ofcompression chamber 37 which adapts the square or rectangular crosssection of the compression chamber 37 to the circular cross section ofoutlet valve 31, and a similar shape at the other end of compressionchamber 37 which adapts the square or rectangular cross section of thecompression chamber 37 to the circular cross section of the check valve42, such as the check valve 42 used in the example illustrated in FIG.3. Also shown formed into the central housing 47 are four valve-guideslots 48 which mate with the intake and exhaust valve plate operatingtabs 32D and 33D shown attached to the tops and bottoms of intake valveplate 32B and exhaust valve plate 33B. There are additional archedplates attached to the tabs 32D and 33D which provide the function ofsealing of the slots from gas leakage while the intake valve plate 32Band the exhaust valve plate 33B move as shown by the arrows whichindicate valve motion in FIG. 18.

It is stated at this time that although the compression chamber 37'scross sectional shape is envisioned as a rectangle or square, and theinlet valve 31, check valve 42, combustion chamber 36, check valve airchambers 43 and compressed air chamber 44 have been shown to have crosssectional shapes to be circular, it is contemplated that other shapesmay be used without destroying the functionality of these chambers. Thisstatement also applies to the chamber shapes of the other embodimentspresented herein.

Shown in FIG. 17 is the combustion chamber 36, used to create the highpressure, high temperature products of combustion in other examples ofthe invention disclosed here. Similarly, the check valve air chamber 43and the compressed air chamber 44, with the connecting tube 46, acceptcompressed resident gas from the annularly shaped compression chamber 37through a check valve 42, which operates similar to the check valve 42used in the previous example of the invention illustrated in FIG. 3.

An advantage of mounting the low pressure air compressor 38 on a firstside of the annularly shaped compression chamber 37, and the turbine 41axially located on a second side of the annularly shaped compressionchamber 37, is that the low pressure air compressor 38 will provide morecompressed air as the quantity of exhaust gasses increases and the speedof turbine 41 increases. In other words, the increased output of exhaustwill be matched with an increase in low-pressure compressed air to morerapidly purge the products of combustion in the compression chamber 37out through the exhaust valve apertures formed in exhaust gas plate 33A.This action is similar to the purging action described by FIG. 9 in theearlier presented embodiment. It is contemplated that with thisembodiment, the multiple intake valves and exhaust valves combined withthe short distance for the purging gasses to travel from the lowpressure air compressor through the intake valve apertures, then axiallythrough the compression chamber 37 and then through the exhaust valveapertures to purge the compression chamber 37, will result in a higherfrequency of combustion-expansion/compression-exhaust-purge cycles thanan embodiment with a longer travel distance from intake to exhaustapertures. This will result in a higher power output than an embodimentwith fewer intake and exhaust valves and-or a longer purge gas traveldistance between intake and exhaust apertures. Also, the directconnection of the compressor 68 and the turbine 71 provides aparticularly compact, low-weight device that is capable of high poweroutput. Also, because the energy of the exhaust gasses has been reducedby the work performed by the compression of the resident gas in thecompression chamber 37, the temperature of these exhaust gasses has beenreduced so less cooling of the turbine blades will be required and theneed for turbine blade materials which can operate at high temperaturesis reduced.

Referring now to FIGS. 16-18, and particularly FIG. 18, it will beunderstood that the intake gas plate 32A and the exhaust gas plate 33Awill provide a plurality of valve apertures. The intake valve apertures32E, shown as tapered holes in intake gas plate 32A, will mate with theintake poppet valves 32C, shown as button-like tapered cylinders thatare mounted on the intake valve plate 32B. As can be understood fromFIG. 18, the intake valve plate 32B moves towards and away from theintake gas plate 32A in order to close or open the valve apertures thatface the high-pressure side of the low pressure air compressor 38.

FIGS. 16 and 18 also show that the exhaust valve plate 33B is used tosupport the attached exhaust poppet valves 33C. Exhaust poppet valves33C are used to open and close the exhaust valve apertures 33E found inthe exhaust gas plate 33A. As illustrated in FIG. 16, the exhaust poppetvalves mounted on the exhaust valve plate 33B will mate with the valveapertures 33E found in the exhaust gas plate 33A to control the exit ofthe products of combustion from the annularly shaped compression chamber37. The products of combustion 28 will then immediately encounter theturbine 41 as they leave the annularly shaped compression chamber 37through the valve apertures in the exhaust gas plate 33A.

Turning now to FIGS. 19-20, it will be understood that the disclosedexample with an annularly shaped compression chamber 37 may incorporatesliding valves 90, instead of poppet valves as was illustrated in FIGS.16-18. FIGS. 20 and 21 illustrate the placement of the sliding valves 90along the annularly shaped compression chamber 37 as well as the angularsliding movement of the slotted valve plates 92 to achieve the openingand closing of the slotted valves. Angular movement, that is, rotationabout the axis of rotation of the shaft of the turbine 41 allows theslotted valve plates 92 to either allow air into the annularly shapedcompression chamber 37 or exhaust gasses out of the compression chamber37 towards the turbine 41.

It should be noted that cooling of the chamber walls, ports, and valvesis not shown on the drawings for simplicity. It is contemplated thatcooling of the compressed air chamber could be beneficial. Accordingly,a heat exchanger as well as a pressure sensor may be used with thecompressed air chamber 44 of all of the illustrated examples that use acompressed air chamber. Lubrication and sealing of sliding surfaces ofthe valves is also not shown for simplicity.

Thermal barriers such as ceramic coatings of the combustion chamberwalls the outlet valve the compression chamber walls and other surfacesin contact with hot gasses are contemplated as beneficial to theengine's efficiency but are not shown for simplicity.

It will be understood that the disclosed system involves few movingmechanical parts for the production of high-pressure gasses that arethen made available for performing work through further expansion. Thissimple arrangement allows computerized control of timing of activationall of the valves used for the control of the flow of gasses.

Thus it can be appreciated that the above-described embodiments areillustrative of just a few of the numerous variations of arrangements ofthe disclosed elements used to carry out the disclosed invention.Moreover, while the invention has been particularly shown, described andillustrated in detail with reference to preferred embodiments andmodifications thereof, it should be understood that the foregoing andother modifications are exemplary only, and that equivalent changes inform and detail may be made without departing from the true spirit andscope of the invention as claimed, except as precluded by the prior art.

What is claimed is:
 1. An internal combustion engine for delivering anexhaust gas to a work producing expansion-engine for performing usefulwork with a resident gas, the internal combustion engine comprising: anelongated compression chamber adapted for holding a resident gas, thecompression chamber having a first end and a second end, the first endof the compression chamber being connected to a combustion chamber; thesecond end of the compression chamber being connected to a compressedair chamber that has an inlet and an outlet, the inlet of the compressedair chamber being in fluid communication with the compression chamberthrough an entry valve that is located between the compression chamberand the inlet of compressed air chamber, the outlet of the compressedair chamber being in fluid communication with the combustion chamberthrough an inlet valve that is located between the combustion chamberand the compressed air chamber; the combustion chamber further having afuel igniter and an outlet valve, that is in fluid communication withthe compression chamber and adapted for quickly releasing products ofcombustion from the combustion chamber into the compression chamber, sothat products of combustion released from the combustion chamber expandagainst the resident gas in the compression chamber to compress theresident gas, so that the compressed resident gas in the compressionchamber, is then forced pass the check valve and into the compressed airchamber, so that the products of combustion remaining in the compressionchamber are now available for further expansion in a work producingexpansion-engine for performing useful work.
 2. An internal combustionengine according to claim 1, wherein the igniter is a spark plug, glowplug and/or the high temperature resulting from the compression of thecompressed air.
 3. An internal combustion engine according to claim 1and further comprising a one-way check valve connected from the secondend of the compression chamber, the check valve providing selectivefluid communication from the compression chamber to a compressed airchamber, the compressed air chamber having an outlet that providesselective delivery of gasses from the compressed air chamber to thecombustion chamber.
 4. An internal combustion engine for delivering anexhaust gas to work producing expansion-engine for performing usefulwork with a resident gas, the internal combustion engine comprising: anelongated compression chamber adapted for holding a resident gas, thecompression chamber having a first end and a second end, the first endof the compression chamber being connected to a combustion chamber; thesecond end of the compression chamber being connected to a compressedair chamber that has an inlet and an outlet, the inlet of the compressedair chamber being in fluid communication with the compression chamberthrough an entry valve that is located between the compression chamberand the inlet of compressed air chamber, the outlet of the compressedair chamber being in fluid communication with the combustion chamberthrough an inlet valve that is located between the combustion chamberand the compressed air chamber; the combustion chamber further having afuel igniter, and an exhaust valve, that is in fluid communication withthe compression chamber and adapted for quickly releasing exhaust gassesfrom the combustion chamber into compression chamber, so that exhaustgasses released from the combustion expand against the compressionchamber to compress the resident gas, so that the compressed residentgas in the compression chamber, is then available for further expansionin a work producing expansion-engine for performing useful work.
 5. Amethod for creating a supply of contained pressurized gas throughcombustion, and delivering the pressurized gas to a work producingexpansion-engine, the method comprising: providing an elongatedcompression chamber having a first end and a second end, the first endbeing connected to a combustion chamber that includes an outlet valvethat is in fluid communication with the compression chamber, the secondend of the compression chamber being connected to a compressed airchamber that has an inlet and an outlet, the inlet of the compressed airchamber being connected to the compression chamber through a one-waycheck valve that is located between the compression chamber and thecompressed air chamber, and the outlet of the compressed air chamberbeing in fluid communication with the combustion chamber through aselectively controllable inlet valve that is located between thecombustion chamber and the compressed air chamber, so that gasses heldwithin the compressed air chamber are selectively delivered into thecombustion chamber; the combustion chamber further having a fuelinjector for delivering a combustible fluid to the combustion chamberand at least one igniter for assisting the compressed air in igniting afuel and air mixture in the combustion chamber; delivering a combustiblefluid into the combustion chamber; delivering a gas having oxygen intothe combustion chamber to create a combustible fluid and oxygen mixturein the combustion chamber; igniting the combustible fluid and airmixture in the combustion chamber to create an amount of pressurizedproducts of combustion gasses; and, delivering the pressurized productsof combustion gasses to the compression chamber by rapidly opening anoutlet valve that is in fluid communication with the compressionchamber, so that products of combustion gasses created in the combustionchamber are rapidly released in a manner that creates a minimum amountof turbulence in the products of combustion flowing into the compressionchamber and expand against the resident air in the compression chamberand compressing the resident air in the compression chamber to createcompressed air in the compression chamber, so that the compressedresident air in the compression chamber may be captured in thecompressed air chamber and stored for use in a following combustioncycle, with the products of combustion gasses remaining in thecompression chamber then being released through the exhaust valve forperforming useful work through expansion in a work producingexpansion-engine.